Copyright ©2026 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
Have a wonderful week everyone!
Whatever Weds. Black-chinned Hummingbird-Immature Male or Female
Category: Birds of North America
Friday’s Feathered Friends- Jays
Copyright ©2026 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
It’s been awhile since I shared any of the birds I’ve been seeing. As I mentioned I was overwhelmed getting my life list up to date after March’s Florida trip, and April’s Texas trip. Today, I’m sharing 3 North American Jays that I added to my Life List this year.
Some of you know how badly I’ve wanted to get a decent photo of the Blue Jay since I first saw one in FL in 2024. They seem to know when I’m in Florida and Ohio with my camera. They toyed with me…hiding in the foliage or giving me a brief look and flying away as soon as I lifted my camera. Well, in March I had two full days to bird with my friend Mary. I spied a Blue Jay and doggedly followed it for 20 minutes to get a photo that wasn’t blurry, or a butt shot.
Blue Jay-showing only a bit of its beautiful markings, and there’s a dreaded branch right in front of its face. Sigh. I kept following it…
Blue Jay- Finally, a decent photo of one!
On my last day of birding with Mary we saw four Florida Scrub-Jays and we thought two of them were banded. I don’t have any information about this Jay from the bands unfortunately. It was backlit so I had to do some masking to lighten up its face a bit.
Florida Scrub-Jay
While in Texas the bird I had hoped to be an easy one to see was the Green Jay. I got lucky and saw a few but, getting an image was tricky. I did get some at a World Birding Site. They set out feeding stations for the birds and the Green Jay flew in for some nibbles.
These three Jays take me to seeing 7/10 Jays of North America. I’ve seen the Blue Jay, California Scrub-Jay, Steller’s Jay, Pinyon Jay, Green Jay, the Florida Scrub-Jay, and the Woodhouse Scrub-Jay. Maybe one day I’ll see them all, but if not I’m so excited to see as many as I have.
It’s been an amazing birding year for me. My bird count for this year is 361 species. With any luck, I hope to pick up a couple more with fall and winter migration. I think this is going to be the best year of birding I had in my life.
I’m birding this morning with the group so will be late getting to your blogs and comments.
I hope everyone has a lovely week-end!
more to come…
Friday’s Feathered Friends- Great Horned Owlets
Copyright ©2026 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
Spring is…Owlets!
Oldest Owlet…roughly 3 weeks old and branching.
Younger two Owlets. One of these is branching now as well.
Mama GH Owl getting some zzz’s nearby the nest.
Dad GH Owl keeping one eye on me.
This little Owl family was a treat to find and see this month.
Fun Facts:
- Great Horned Owls are fierce predators that can take large prey, including raptors such as Ospreys, Peregrine Falcons, Prairie Falcons, and other owls. They also eat much smaller items such as rodents, frogs, and scorpions.
- When clenched, a Great Horned Owl’s strong talons require a force of 28 pounds to open. The owls use this deadly grip to sever the spine of large prey.
- If you hear an agitated group of cawing American Crows, they may be mobbing a Great Horned Owl. Crows may gather from near and far and harass the owl for hours. The crows have good reason, because the Great Horned Owl is their most dangerous predator.
- Even though the female Great Horned Owl is larger than her mate, the male has a larger voice box and a deeper voice. Pairs often call together, with audible differences in pitch.
- Great Horned Owls are covered in extremely soft feathers that insulate them against the cold winter weather and help them fly very quietly in pursuit of prey. Their short, wide wings allow them to maneuver among the trees of the forest.
- Great Horned Owls have large eyes, pupils that open widely in the dark, and retinas containing many rod cells for excellent night vision. Their eyes don’t move in their sockets, but they can swivel their heads more than 180 degrees to look in any direction. They also have sensitive hearing, thanks in part to facial disc feathers that direct sound waves to their ears.
- The oldest Great Horned Owl on record was at least 28 years old when it was found in Ohio in 2005.
Fun Facts gleaned from allaboutbirds.org
I’m out birding early this morning as it’s light out much earlier so I’ll be a little later getting to your posts and comments.
more to come…
Whatever Weds. Celestial and Birds
Copyright ©2025 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
While birding last week I saw a Cassin’s Finch chick being fed by its parent and made several images of it. Unfortunately, they were facing me with the sun to their backs and in my face. So, the image isn’t great but, what is… is what I discovered once I uploaded my images.
Off to the right of the birds is a satellite flare. I think it’s a Starlink flare/glint which would be the first time I’ve photographed one of those.
Regarding this next image- A friend had been sharing his images of the Moon several days ago with me so, the other evening when I saw the Moon shining out my living room window I was inspired to get up and photograph it.
Here’s the moon at 82.7% percent full. A waxing Gibbous Moon from July 6th.
The bottom crater is Tycho. I really like its crusty textured bits. I know the other large crater off on the left below the Sea of Showers is the Copernicus Crater. I wish I didn’t need a poster to help me every single time with the other sea and crater names, but I do.
July’s Full Moon is called the Buck Moon. It also has several other names like Thunder Moon, and Hay Moon.
The Full Moon this month is July 10th.
Fun Facts:
This full moon coincides with a Major Lunar Standstill in 2025, making the moon appear especially low in the sky after sunset due to its orbital path and the recent summer solstice.
- It will be the farthest full moon from the Sun in 2025, occurring shortly after Earth reached aphelion — the point in its orbit farthest from the Sun.
- In some regions, such as India, the full moon coincides with Guru Purnima, a spiritually significant event, enhancing its cultural importance.
- The Buck Moon gets its name from the Algonquin-speaking Native American tribes, as July is the time when male deer (bucks) begin to grow new antlers covered in velvet, symbolizing renewal and growth.
Fun facts gleaned from Space.com
Nikon D850| Nikkor 500mm PF-e| Processed with Photoshop CC
more to come…
Friday’s Feathered Friends-Birds!
Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
It’s been awhile since I shared any birds so I’m going to share several I saw while in Florida this past September. It was a fantastic trip. I saw 21 new to me birds aka “Lifers”. I won’t share all of them in this post. 😊
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
A Magnificent Frigatebird. This was the first time I’d ever seen it in the United States. I have seen it in Mexico before.
And a White Ibis
Image
Aren’t they great? I’m still excited to have seen them.
How’d you all do with the time change for those of you in states and places that end Daylight Savings Time? How many clocks did you have to reset? We have 8 clocks we needed to change including the thermostat and our cars. I’ve been waking up earlier than normal so back to my natural rhythm at last!
I hope you all have a lovely week-end.
Nikon D850|Nikkor 500mm| PS CC
more to come…
Friday’s Feathered Friends-A Great Day Birding
Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
Last week I was birding with a group I belong to. We had a very exciting birding day with 66 species sighted. There were lots of great sightings, one was while in a big field in a Washoe Co. in the sagebrush, we saw a Brewer’s Sparrow and I got a few good images. It’s a “lifer” for me. A “lifer” is the first time you’ve ever seen a bird species.
We saw two adult Bald Eagles which was exciting because one flew onto a telephone pole carrying food of some sort and started eating. Then we heard another Eagle call out and fly into the scene ready to attack from behind!
It tried to steal the food of the BE on the pole. The BE with the food took its prey and flew over to a nearby telephone pole and carried on eating while the would-be thief sat on top of the pole trying to figure out what went wrong and why he now had control of the pole but no food. 😂
In three images: The approach, The Attack, and the would-be thief flying off several minutes later very disappointed. I was too far away from the poles to get good images, but they’re keepers and good enough to tell the story with.
The Would-be thief flyby was better as I had moved closer by then.
Some other cool birds I saw and photographed were:
I don’t have any cool bird fun facts for you today as the post would be too long. It’s already longer than my usual post.
FYI, I will be late getting back to you on the comments but, I will get to them.
I hope you all have a great week-end!
Nikon D850|Nikkor 500mm PF-e| PS CC 25.7.0
more to come…
Something for Sat. Ruby Crowned-Kinglet
Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
I don’t want the week to go by without a post so here we have me posting on a rare Saturday.
This little Kinglet is so cute, but very flitty normally but, on this day earlier this month I was able to get quite a few good looks at this one.
They’re a small bird being only 3.5-4.3 inches in length, and weigh 0.2-0.3 ounces.
I have yet to see it flared, but here’s a look at the top of its head showing the Ruby spot.
This one is busy being an acrobat which afforded me a good look at its Ruby Spot which was a treat. Just look at how light they are it’s holding onto those pine needles and they aren’t bending!
Fun Facts:
- The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is a tiny bird that lays a very large clutch of eggs—there can be up to 12 in a single nest. Although the eggs themselves weigh only about a fiftieth of an ounce, an entire clutch can weigh as much as the female herself.
- Ruby-crowned Kinglets seem nervous as they flit through the foliage, flicking their wings nearly constantly. Keeping an eye out for this habit can be a useful aid to identifying kinglets.
- Metabolic studies on Ruby-crowned Kinglets suggest that these tiny birds use only about 10 calories (technically, kilocalories) per day.
- The oldest known Ruby-crowned Kinglet was a female, and at least 8 years, 8 months old, when she was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in Texas in 2017. She was banded in the same state in 2008.
Fun facts gleaned from allaboutbirds.orghttps://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruby-crowned_Kinglet/overview
I hope you all have a great week-end!
Nikon D810| Nikkor 500mm PF-e| PS CC 25.3.1
more to come…
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